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Friday, March 14, 2014

In the past week I have seen two shows, produced and performed in one show, taught two burlesque classes, taken a workshop, had a fundraising meeting for the theater, had a SFBF meeting with the hotel, did a site walk through for a show that I am stage managing this Saturday right after I teach a burlesque class, worked as an ME for a new gig, planning a new organizing system for the costuming room at the theater, and during all this I am still working on the Syrens monthly Tease Tuesday shows, Southern Fried Burlesque Fest (which is next week) and general theater and existence projects as well...and this was a slow week because I am technically between shows.

People give me shit for being busy or tired or not being able to come out and do stuff a lot of the time. I am a working artist...what that means is I have to hustle and do about 4 times the work to get the same amount of hourly pay that someone at McDonald's gets. It's not just show up and do the job; I have to get each job, rehearse, make costumes, market myself, negotiate the bookings, deal with the money, etc... So to those people who get upset with me for being busy, it's not that I don't want to see you, it's that I have to get my bills paid and generally my line of work means I am working in the evenings when you are off work. I promise to not get made at you for having a 9am-5pm job if you promise to not get mad at me for having a 6pm-3am gig, and that's just rehearsal time.

Everyone always thinks that being an artist is this super fun thing, and it is, but it is also really hard work because you have to be self motivated. Rarely do you have any job security as they're all temporary gigs. There is always an expiration date be it one burlesque routine or a run of an entire show; when it's done you gotta already have the next one lined up or you're going to have dead time where no money comes in and you're screwed unless you've been saving up some for these dry spells. I am much happier because I am doing something that I love, however I have to work really hard to make it be more than a hobby and make sure that my bills are paid and I have money stashed aside between theater seasons, etc... With any job, there are ups and downs, I just find that being happy is worth the extra work with less money rather than when I had the MUCH better paying office gig and felt like my soul was dying. Follow your bliss and figure out what priorities work for you, but don't be upset if your schedule doesn't mesh up with everyone else's.